Dark Champion (Flirting with Monsters #4) - Eva Chase Page 0,73

ropes so I could swing over the hellhound’s head. Ruse let out a whoop of appreciation, but all I’d done was flee, not land any blows. I spun around, ducked the fist speeding toward me, and managed to jab my heel into Omen’s calf before he dodged.

I stalked after him along the pole, both of us over the open water now. “What’s the rule about wet dogs? Does that count as a loss too?”

“I guess it’d better,” Omen said, and threw himself at me.

I nearly did perform a spectacular belly flop then. It was only by a hair’s breadth that my fingers snagged on a ridge on the upper hull, giving me just enough leverage to toss my leg back over the railing.

As I scrambled back up, the hellhound was already barreling toward me. I dashed along the railing and hefted myself onto a rope near the bow.

My foot skimmed Omen’s face, just shy of a strike—and he caught my ankle. With a yank, he sent me tumbling onto the deck. I hit the worn wooden boards ass-first.

Sprawling on my back, I waggled my legs in the air. “Technically my feet didn’t touch it.”

Omen snorted. “And here I thought the spirit of the rules was clear. But if you’re determined to be a cheater as well as a thief…”

The words should have rolled right off me. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t been called worse—hell, he’d called me worse several times over. But something about that accusation struck a spark inside me, and I had to clench my hands to will back the flare of heat before it burst from my skin.

All the more reason to play along with this training. That inner fire had damn well better learn to stay tamped down until I called on it with a purpose.

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll just have to whoop your ass the other four times.”

Omen’s icy eyes glinted. “Come and try me.”

I had to say I didn’t think the rules were exactly fair. Omen might not have been bringing out his own hellish fire, but his speed and dexterity were several cuts above mortal standards. Not that I was going to complain that I couldn’t keep up with him to his face. A gal’s got to have some self-respect.

I’d just have to be more tricksy.

We exchanged more feints and parries around the edge of the boat until I saw my opportunity. I dropped low, hooked my arm around the railing, and heaved both of my feet into the side of Omen’s legs.

He groped for balance, but not fast enough. This time the smack of flesh meeting wood wasn’t my own. I pushed myself up straight, grinning down at him, as he dusted himself off.

“We’re just getting started,” he promised. “You need to be able to hold yourself in check and bend those flames to your will when you’re face to face with Tempest, and she isn’t going to be half this easy on you.”

“Bring it on,” I shot back, but something—maybe the mention of Tempest—sent another jolt of heat through me. This time it coursed up through my ribs and into my shirt before I quite got a grip on it. With a hitch of my pulse, I slapped my arms against my sides to smother it.

Omen didn’t comment, but a flicker of tension passed through his face, his mouth tightening into a brief frown. Before I could do more than take a breath, he sprang at me again.

The momentary loss of control must have rattled me. Omen threw his swipes and punches with brutal fury, and each time his knuckles clipped my body, another spurt of anger threatened to break the surface of my composure.

Stop it! I thought at the fire searing from my gut up to my chest. He wants to rile you up. He’s not really a threat. Chill out already.

My mental commands didn’t have much effect. I banged my knee against a board while dodging a roundhouse, and a sputter of flames licked over my hand, blistering my fingers.

Omen didn’t see—my hunched torso had hidden the lapse from view. Not again. Stay the fuck inside me, I ordered the roiling energies.

Both to distract myself and to annoy my opponent, I danced backward with a little musical accompaniment. “And if you only scold and spite, we’ll be holding on forever. But we’ll only be faking a fight—”

Omen growled and charged at me, cutting me off as I had to fling myself at the ropes to escape. My feet